


just give me a try

by zialllovessterek



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Asexual Character, Everybody is Queer, High School AU, M/M, Non-binary character, Polyamory, Romeo and Juliet (Play), Sexual Tension, Theater - Freeform, drug usage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-04-01 11:12:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4017577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zialllovessterek/pseuds/zialllovessterek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Courfeyrac finishes writing his first play, a modern twist on a classic titled "Romeo and Jules", he has the perfect cast chosen out. </p><p>The only problem seems to be the constant bickering of the two leads, Enjolras and Grantaire.<br/>And the spark of chemistry between them that they're both vehemently denying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. hold your fire

"It's finished!" Courfeyrac practically sings as he drapes himself all over the lunch table as though it were a piano. 

Combeferre and Enjolras barely manage to pull their lunches away from Courfeyrac's flailing limbs before Courfeyrac is pushing himself up on the table, standing at full glory in front of the entire cafeteria. 

"After weeks and weeks of my genius theatrical mind working to full capacity," Enjolras snorts at this, but Courfeyrac pays him no mind as he continues. "I have completed this revolutionary, work of art script! I call it: Romeo and Jules!"

Combeferre firmly pulls Courf down from the table and seats him beside Enjolras. From the other side of the cafeteria, he can hear some kids snickering about the scene that Courf just made. 

"So get this, there's this guy, okay? And he's in a gang in New York City and there's this other rival gang and there's this guy in the other rival gang that is super cute and he likes him and they get lowkey married and then they die," Courf lets out all in one breath as he steals some of Enjolras's gluten-free crackers. 

Enjolras raises an eyebrow. "I really hope that that's the shortened down version and not the final product." 

Courfeyrac waves a hand impatiently in Enjolras's direction and pulls out a thick stack of stapled pages. "It's all in here," he insists, hugging the script to his chest like precious cargo. "And, of course, I already know who I want to play all the roles."

Combeferre bites back a grin as he watched Enjolras's face turn pale as he skims through the cast list that Courf passed him. He knew that in the past, Enjolras had struggled with drama class and found it to be too silly and embarrassing. He had no problem speaking at school assemblies about the consequences of cultural assimilation, but he would blush if he had to act out a comical skit. 

"I-" Enjolras swallowed. "I can't be Jules, Courf. You know I'd be awful! I'm too awkward to act out something like this in front of the whole school."

"Puh-leeeease, Enj? I made Combeferre part of the cast too, so you won't be alone. I mean, he isn't Romeo, but he's Benvolio, so he'll be on stage a lot with you," Courf tried to effectively persuade his friend without spewing cracker crumbs all over the table. 

"Who even is the person playing Romeo?" Enjolras squinted as he looked through the script. "Grantaire? Who's that?" 

"Doesn't he hang out with Montparnasse and those other kids?" Combeferre looked concerned. 

Courfeyrac's smile faltered for a split-second. "He's really nice, I swear. And he also has the second highest mark in my drama class, he can totally help you out. Please, Enj!" 

Combeferre watched, amused, as Courfeyrac gave Enjolras his best puppy eyes. 

"Why can't Combeferre be Romeo?" Enjolras complained poutily. 

"Combeferre is a total Benvolio," Courfeyrac gestured at Combeferre with great gusto. "The role was practically written for him!" 

"Besides I'm way too ace to play a believable love interest," Combeferre shrugged. 

"Very true," Courfeyrac agreed. "Look, I texted the rest of the cast a few minutes ago and told them to meet me here near the end of lunch. You guys'll see, it'll be a perfect fit!"

As if on queue, a small group of students approached their lunch table. Some smiling timidly, and others running up to high-five Courfeyrac and congratulate him on his playwright. There were a couple of minutes of loud chatter before Enjolras took charge by clapping his hands together twice to get everybody's attention. 

"Right, we should probably just make sure everybody's here," Enjolras said as he skimmed through the cast list. "We can safely assume that anybody who didn't show is either uncommitted or uninterested and find replacements soon enough."

A tall, brown-tinted boy with messy curls at the back cleared his throat. "Well, not really. I mean, a lot of people have clubs and other stuff during lunch so they might need to put the play on the backburner until later." 

Combeferre analyzed the situation quickly and saw Enjolras in debate mode. Debate mode was a temperament that Enjolras reserved for debate class and telling off ignorant dudebros. He exchanged a look of horror with Courfeyrac; Enjolras was unstoppable and lethal in debate mode. 

"Oh really?" Enjolras challenged this newcomer. "And this play is just supposed to somehow function with members of the cast putting it on the 'backburner'? If we want to succeed, we have to be dedicated. Otherwise, this is useless."

Most of the cast was watching the exchange with wide eyes. Bahorel, who ran the after school martial arts club, was filming the interaction with his cellphone and staring with rampant fascination. 

The other boy threw his hands up in exasperation. "Look, I don't mean to say that this play isn't important. I've seen Courf busting his ass working on it and I'm not disrespecting that." (Courfeyrac punches a fist in the air with a proud grin.) "I'm just saying, it's not the end of the world if we don't have a set schedule for things yet." 

Some of the girls near the other boy murmured in agreement and Enjolras blushed as he realized that that guy was probably right. 

Combeferre decided that this little duel has gone on for too long. "Um, anyways, Courfeyrac's going to read your name off the list, and if you're here, just raise your hand so that he knows."

Courfeyrac started going through his list of pre-selected cast. Enjolras recognized some of the cast. He saw Jehan, who often attended the LGBTQIA+ group with him and is an adamant advocate for trans rights. He also spotted Cosette, his next door neightbour and offers her a kind smile. His smile faded as he saw Montparnasse, who he recognized from being busted for smoking weed in the bathroom. Even though multiple students had seen Montparnasse smoking in the bathroom and there was a distinct scent of marijuana, somehow he hadn't received any consequences. 

Enjolras studied the cast as he finished the rest of his sandwich and went through his mental exercises of overcoming stage fright. Courfeyrac adjourned the meeting and told everybody to meet at his house that weekend to plan practice times. 

"Isn't this such a dream?" Courfeyrac sighed as he sprawled out on the lunch bench with his head resting in Combeferre's lap. Combeferre hummed in agreement as he skimmed through his biology notes and Courfeyrac turned his head towards Enjolras and repeated himself. 

"Yeah, the cast is pretty good. I'm a little worried about Montparnasse though, are you sure he's a good fit?" Enjolras asked. 

Courfeyrac sat up and attempted to fix his messy hair. "Listen, I know you think he's a burnout or a druggie or whatever label you're thinking of, but I promise he's talented. And he is such a Tybalt!"

Come to think of it, Montparnasse actually was a spot on Tybalt, Enjolras realized. 

"And what about Romeo? Grantaire totally fits the part! Am I right or am I right?" Courfeyrac mumbled as he crammed a granola bar in his mouth. 

"Grantaire? Was he there? I didn't even see him!" Enjolras complained. 

Combeferre's face screwed up in confusion. "What do you mean? You had a, er, rather heated discussion with him."

"THAT guy? That was Grantaire?!" Enjolras ran his fingers through his hair and covered his face as he groaned. "I cannot play that guy's love interest; he hates me!" 

Combeferre smiles sympathetically and pats Enjolras's hand without looking up from his biology notes. 

"Hey, maybe it'll even be better that way! Think of all the passion and sexual tension that'll come out of this!" Courf wiggled his eyebrows conspiratorially. 

Enjolras and Combeferre simultaneously throw their apple cores at Courfeyrac as he shrieked and shielded himself with a lunch tray. He ran away from the lunch table, still holding the lunch tray above his head. 

"Don't forget, meeting at my house on Saturday," he called over his shoulder at his friends. "And bring LOTS of passion, Enjolras!"


	2. but you're stuck in my brain

Saturday arrived quickly. Too quickly for Enjolras. He had spent the rest of his week directing his focus towards his Economics class and as a result, he hadn't thought much about anything else. Courfeyrac had called him lame, since he refused to hang out with anyone or go anywhere other than the library until his test was over. 

Enjolras had completely forgotten about the play meeting until a phone call woke him up on Saturday morning. 

The tune of "Sexy And I Know It" by LMFAO, which was Courfeyrac's personalized ring tone (set by Courfeyrac), shook him out of his slumber. A quick glance at his clock told Enjolras that it was only 7:30 in the morning. 

"Hello?" He yawned as he answered the phone. 

"Heeey, listen I was up last night and I did some last minute changes to the script so I'm thinking of pushing this meeting forward to about ten o'clock in the morning? And my mom is already making enough brunch to feed a small army, so if the play isn't incentive enough, there's about a hundred blueberry muffins here. Also if you have a leather jacket, bring it. That way you're in character," Courfeyrac rambled on, much too loudly for Enjolras's recently awoken brain. 

"How much coffee did you drink?" Enjolras asked as he snuggled back under his blanket. 

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Let me think. There was a that cup after dinner. Then the coffee pot around eleven. Oh, right then another cup around two. Then a couple more this morning," Courf calculated as Enjolras snorted in disbelief. "So in total, that's... seven cups of coffee. Don't tell Ferre or he'll give me more pamphlets about the dangers of caffeine."

Enjolras laughed out loud. "I'll see you later, Courf. Don't forget to text the others to let them know!"

"Oh, don't worry, I already called them to let them know. Anyways, see you at ten!"

Enjolras hung up the phone and begrudgingly forced himself to get out of bed. Courfeyrac had asked him to bring a leather jacket, just to be more in character. Enjolras didn't think he had any leather jackets, but maybe he could find one somewhere in his house. His dad could possibly still have one from his youth hidden in the house. 

After searching through the dusty attic and getting cobwebs tangled in his hair, Enjolras managed to locate a large leather jacket that had been hidden under several boxes full of baby clothes. It was covered in a layer of dust and smelled like an old lady, but it would have to do for now. He shook off the dust and tried it on carefully, making sure that there weren't any spiders or mice in the sleeves. 

On somebody who actually fit the jacket, it might've looked good. However, on five-foot five Enjolras, he looked like he was wearing an oversized leather dress. The sleeves swung way past his hands and the jacket seemed to swallow up his tiny frame. Enjolras blushed at the thought of having to wear it in front of everybody. He sent a quick text to Courfeyrac and Combeferre, explaining his dilemma. Of course, they both replied that he was probably over analyzing the situation and that he most likely looked good. Enjolras sent them a goofy mirror selfie, just to let them see how bad it was. 

Combeferre tried to salvage Enjolras's dignity by comparing him to Danny from Grease and Lana Del Rey in the West Coast music video. Courfeyrac replied with ten fire emojis and a thumbs up emoji. It appeared that the jacket was staying, no matter what Enjolras thought of it. 

At nine fifty, Courfeyrac heard a firm knock at his door. He opened the door to see Enjoras wearing the legendary leather jacket, completing the look with a pair of corduroy shorts and a cropped red hoodie. If you asked Courfeyrac, he would've said that the look was reminiscent of Calvin Klein circa 2005, but to anybody else, Enjolras looked quite silly. 

Enjolras met Courf's eyes. "How bad is it?" 

A voice piped up from behind Enjolras. "Not bad at all! It's kind of funky, actually." Jehan Prouvaire was the only one who could get away with using the word 'funky' in a sentence. They toyed with the end of their braid as they inspected Enjolras's outfit with a thoughtful look on their face. 

"That's what I'm thinking too!" Courfeyrac exclaimed as he gestured for both of his guests to come inside. "Oh my God, Jehan, tell me that that frappucino is for me!"

Jehan beamed as they handed it over to Courf. "I thought you might enjoy it. Thanks again for letting us practice this at your house."

Enjolras snickered at the inhumane moan that Courfeyrac made as Jehan passed him the Starbucks drink. 

"You really didn't have to do that," Enjolras remarked as he thought about how much caffeine was already in Courf's system. 

Jehan blushed and fiddled with the beaded bracelet on their wrist. "It's not a big deal..."

Courfeyrac led them both to the den, where his mom had prepared muffins and juice for everybody. His mom was a bit of a health nut, so everything was gluten-free and had little unrecognizable seeds added to them. 

Enjolras helped himself to a blueberry flax muffin as he and his friends waited for the rest of the cast to arrive. 

By five past ten, everyone was there and tucking into brunch, except for Grantaire. Enjolras discreetly rolled his eyes as he checked the time on his phone. 

"Sorry, are we going to run through our lines soon?" Cosette spoke up. "It's just that I need to be home by twelve and I think we should try to squeeze in as much practice time as possible."

Courfeyrac glanced at the door, as if he was expecting Grantaire burst through it at any moment. "Yeah, we're just waiting for somebody."

Anger flared up inside Enjolras. As if Grantaire had the nerve to be late to the first practice. "Not just somebody. We're waiting for the other lead actor. He's the one holding everybody up!" He subconsciously clenched his jaw. 

"Now, hold up," Bahorel said as he tossed a blueberry into his mouth. "I know Grantaire, he wouldn't miss this on purpose. If he's late, he's got a good reason."

Grantaire chose the perfect time to show up. He burst into the den out of breath, with his dark curls spilling out of the sides of his olive coloured beanie. "Hey, sorry I was late, I just had a thing I had to do and..." Grantaire cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Enjolras rolled his eyes and snorted. Grantaire had had a 'thing he had to do'? What kind of excuse was that?

Grantaire turned his eyes towards Enjolras at the noise he had made. Almost comically, Grantaire's eyes widened as he looked Enjolras up and down, centering in on the strip of skin visible between his cropped sweater and his jeans. 

Enjolras crossed his arms defiantly. "I get it; I look stupid. Can we just move on?" He snapped.

"Uh, sure. Okay, so I'm gonna hand out copies of the script to everybody, and I just want you guys to try acting this out," Courfeyrac addressed the room. "So you don't have to go through the actions and stuff, just read through the lines aloud."

The script actually proved to be quite interesting. It was very similar to the original story of Romeo and Juliet, so most of the cast already knew the basics of the plot. Everybody got very into their roles; Jehan as they crooned about the power of true love in their role as the priest and Combeferre as he spoke about prudence and peacemaking. Enjolras was having a laugh and enjoying himself until near the end of the play, when him and Grantaire had to act out their wedding night. 

"You aren't going to make them.... do anything, right?" Combeferre stopped the play to ask Courfeyrac cautiously. 

Courfeyrac laughed wildly as Jehan blushed. "Oh my God, Ferre! Do you think I'd actually force them to have sex on stage? Is that even legal?"

Grantaire chuckled loudly as well and winked at Enjolras. "Not that it wouldn't be an honor to lay with the noble Apollo, of course."

"Can we just get back to the script, please?" Enjolras grinded his teeth together as he felt his cheeks burning at his co-stars implications. 

"Anything for you, dearest," Grantaire said with a fake sweet voice as he batted his eyelashes at Enjolras. The rest of the cast giggled at his antics and the effect that they had on Enjolras. Even Combeferre smirked at the scene. 

At noon, they had been through the play almost twice, and everybody was pretty comfortable with their roles. 

"Okay! That's a wrap folks!" Courfeyrac clapped his hands as he ushered the cast outside. "I'll see if I can schedule practice time for us in the auditorium. If you guys know people willing to do costumes and set design, let me know!"

"I know the perfect girl for set design," Grantaire informed Courf. "She's honestly as good as you can get. She has a gift, I swear! You'll definitely love her, trust me."

Enjolras's blood boiled. "Is that why you were late? You had 'something you had to do'? As in this 'dream girl'? She's so much more important that this play?" He almost couldn't stop the words from tumbling  
out of his mouth. 

Grantaire smirked and raised an eyebrow at his blonde counterpart. "Seriously? Éponine is my best friend, you weirdo. Jealousy is a cute look on you, though."

Enjolras could hear Courf laughing beside him and was glad that the rest of the cast wasn't here to witness this. "I-I'm not jealous! I was just saying that the play is more important. I am definitely not jealous, don't be an idiot."

Grantaire leaned in so close to Enjolras that he could smell the faint aroma of cigarettes. "Besides," Grantsaire whispered warmly in his ear. "She's.... not my type if you know what I mean."

Enjolras could feel his knees buckling as Grantaire stepped back. 

"Anyways, great practice, Courf! See you guys later!" Grantaire waved before sauntering out the door. 

Courfeyrac whistled lowly and slapped Enjolras on the back. 

"What just happened?" Combeferre asked as he adjusted his glasses. 

Enjolras did not know how to answer his question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title for chapter from "Is There Somewhere" by Halsey.   
> Jehan is non-binary by the way, which means that they aren't a male or a female, and use they/them pronouns. Just cleaning that up if it confused you at all!


	3. could it be another change

Enjolras had thought that maybe Combeferre would let the whole "Grantaire whispering in his ear and possibly flirting with him" incident slide. He knew for a fact that Courfeyrac would bring it up as frequently as possible and potentially tell his mother. That's why he wasn't surprised to find Courfeyrac discussing Grantaire's "motives" with his mother on a Sunday morning. 

"...he gives off like a wild beast ready to be tamed by a soft quiet spirit kind of vibe, you know?" Enjolras could hear Courf sharing his theories as he made his way to the kitchen. 

"Oh, good morning," Enjolras's mother piped up as if she hadn't just been gossiping with her son's friend. "We were just chatting about a certain fellow that seems to fancy you."

Courfeyrac giggled into his coffee as Enjolras felt his cheeks flush. "He doesn't 'fancy' me, who even says stuff like that? And take that coffee away from Courf. He doesn't deserve it." 

Both Courf and his mother ignored him. Courf turned towards her and continued to recount in hushed whispers exactly how Grantaire had looked at Enjolras. 

Enjolras's phone vibrated on the counter as he rummaged through the cereal cupboard. "Hey, can you reply to whoever texted me? It's probably Ferre," He called over his shoulder. 

There was a momentary silence before Courfeyrac replied, "I'm on it!" 

Enjolras prepared himself a healthy breakfast of froot loops with soy milk and green tea before joining Courf and his mom at the table. He ignored his mother and Courf's conspiring glances and giggles, deciding that it was too early for their antics. 

"Oh Enjolras," began Courfeyrac innocently. "Don't you want your phone back?" 

Enjolras's heartbeat quickened and he grabbed his phone from Courf's hands. "Why? What did you do?" 

Enjolras's mother patted Courfeyrac on the head like he was a puppy dog and cleared her throat. "That's my cue to leave, I'll be upstairs if you need me."

Enjolras inspected his phone carefully, looking for Disney princess stickers or a crack in the screen. "I don't see any damage? You didn't even change my background to a picture of your butt." 

"Hey, that was one time!" Courf protested. "Anyways, you'll thank me for what I did! It's practically a favour."

Enjolras unlocked his phone nervously. He noticed that he had a new text from a contact named 'Sexy Future Sexy Husband' that he didn't recognize. "Courf," he said with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Who is 'Sexy Future Sexy Husband' and why are they texting me?"

"Three guesses! Guess who it is! If you don't get it right on the third guess, I'll-"

"It's Grantaire, isn't it?" Enjolras bit his lip as he quickly skimmed through the messages that Courf had sent. Thankfully, none of them were too inappropriate and none of them were nude photos. 

"Well, that was no fun. But yeah, he's so into you, man. And I knew you wouldn't start anything, so I just gave you a little push in the right direction."

"I don't even type like this? I never put extra letters at the ends of words and text acronyms are stupid," Enjolras frowned at the screen. "How did you get those little animal emoticons?"

"Those little animal...." Courfeyrac repeated. "You mean emojis? You don't know how to get emojis? You have had an iPhone for over a year and you didn't know how to get emojis?!"

Enjolras ignored him. "He just texted back and said that he wants to go over lines with me tomorrow at lunch. Good, he's finally taking the play seriously."

Courfeyrac grabbed Enjolras's shoulders and shook him with a crazed look in his eyes. "Holy shit, Enj! This is him asking you out! He wants to go over lines with just you, that's practically code for making out!" 

Enjolras pried Courf's hands off his shoulders. "Yeah, I don't think so. Rehearsing scenes at lunch is hardly a date." 

"Hang on, I'm texting Jehan and Ferre about this. They made me promise to tell them any updates about the Granjolras situation." Courfeyrac tapped on his own phone screen frantically. 

"What?" Enjolras blinked. "Wait, what's Granjolras?"

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes. "Do I have to explain everything to you? Grantaire plus Enjolras is Granjolras. Jehan says that Enjoltaire is better, but me and Ferre agree Granjolras has a nicer ring to it."

"I- You-" Enjolras sputtered. "This conversation is over for now. I don't even like him and he cannot stand me! And stop making up ship names behind my back!"

"Sorry darling," Courfeyrac pulled Enjolras into his lap. "Next time we will ask for your opinion on which ship name is catchier for you and your boy toy."

"He's not my boy toy," Enjolras said firmly. He cuddled up in Courf's lap and sipped his tea. "What should we do today?" 

"We can watch Netflix foreign films until lunch, then I, er, have plans," Courfeyrac uncharacteristically blushed. 

Enjolras sat upright and studied his friend. "Plans?"

"Yeah, just like, you know," he rambled. "Like, hanging out with Jehan and stuff."

Enjolras raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you and Jehan close?"

"I don't know, we've sort of been friends, then we just started talking more lately. And they're just so... cool. Like just talking to them is always interesting and exciting," Courfeyrac gestured with his hands as he explained himself. 

"Don't expect a big commitment though. You know that they're polyromantic, right?" Enjolras said carefully. 

"Enj, of course I know that. They're not going to like, break my heart or something. That's not even... Like that's just..." Courfeyrac struggled with his words as he scowled at the floor. 

Enjolras felt like the biggest piece of shit in the universe. He wrapped his arms around his friend tightly, feeling Courf relax into his hug. "I know," he murmured into Courfeyrac's hair. "Sorry."

After a pregnant pause, Courfeyrac spoke. "It's okay. You didn't mean it like that. Also thanks for this prime opportunity to play with your hair. Everything is forgiven if you let me give you braids."

Enjolras reluctantly gave in and rested his head comfortably on his friend's chest. "So, what are you and Jehan going to do?" 

Courfeyrac wiggled his eyebrows. "Everything, if this works out."

This remark earned him a pinch on the arm. "I mean on your date today."

"Oh! Well, we're going to an art museum, then going to play laser tag." Courfeyrac continued loosely braiding the hair near the base of Enjolras's head. Enjolras's phone vibrated. "Is that Sexy Future Sexy Husband?"

Enjolras grabbed his phone and quickly unlocked it, brows furrowing as he read the text. "Courf, did you make an embarrassing picture of me as your snapchat story?"

"Perhaps..." Courf giggled. "Although I would said more adorable than embarrassing. Why? Did Sexy Future Sexy Husband have something to say about it?" 

"Will you stop calling him that? And he said that it was 'very cute'," Enjolras said in air quotes. "He's so obnoxious! Please tell me it isn't a picture of me shoving froot loops in my mouth."

"Nope, it's a picture from when you curled up in my lap like a four year old." Courf grinned cheekily as Enjolras opened up his snapchat story. 

"I do look like a child with bed head," Enjolras confirmed. 

"Relax," Courfeyrac chuckled. "This is the kind of stuff that is keeping Granjolras going. You should be thanking me for this!" 

In terms of thanks, Courfeyrac got a pillow thrown in his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a filler chapter, sorry! Anyways, title is from the song could it be another change by the samples.   
> How do you guys feel about Jehan/Courf??


	4. you give me problems

Enjolras checked his phone impatiently as he waited for Grantaire to join him. Lunch had started ten minutes ago, and Grantaire was late for their not-date of rehearsing lines. Combeferre had banned Courfeyrac from hiding underneath the cafeteria table and eavesdropping, but that didn't stop Courf from blowing up Enjolras's phone with ridiculous flirting tips. Enjolras came to the conclusion that Courfeyrac was to be denied his rights to Seventeen magazine. 

After fifteen minutes of waiting for Grantaire, Enjolras was fed up. As he stood up to leave, he bumped into Grantaire. 

Grantaire grabbed Enjolras's forearm as he stumbled. "Hey Apollo, be very careful. I hear these cafeteria floors can be very violent when they want to."

Enjolras yanked his tricep out of Grantaire's grip and huffed. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes so give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave."

"Please don't," Grantaire's eyes widened almost comically. "I'm here now, okay? I just had some... stuff to deal with. With Parnasse."

"Parnasse? Montparnasse? You know, he's a drug dealer. You shouldn't hang out with him." 

Grantaire ran his fingers through his hair, irritated. "Yeah, I know. Since when did it become any of your business who I hang out with?"

"Excuse me?" Enjolras scoffed as he narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who shows up fifteen minutes late to this thing that you planned out!"

Grantaire threw his hands up in exasperation. "Well, I'm sorry that we can't all be as punctual as the noble Apollo! Some of us have responsibilities, okay?!" 

At this point, some of the people around them had started whispering and staring. Grantaire could see Éponine standing nearby, ready to chew Enjolras out if it came to that. She made eye contact with him, silently asking if everything was alright. 

"Responsibilities? Like helping Montparnasse sell weed to middle schoolers and ruining their lives?" Enjolras asked coolly. "Like that kind of responsibility?" 

He knew he had gone too far when Grantaire took a step back and ran a hand over his flushed face. "Just..." he struggled to find the words. "Practice your lines by yourself. I don't want to talk to you right now."

With that being said, he stalked off in the opposite direction to join Éponine, who was looking absolutely murderous. When Enjolras glanced at her, she glared at him and gave him a double middle finger. 

"...Yeesh," Courf spoke up from behind Enjolras. "That... did not go as planned."

"Oh, fuck off," muttered Enjolras as he scowled at the floor moodily. 

Combeferre slid in the seat across from Enjolras. "Hey, that was uncalled for. Courf didn't say anything wrong."

Enjolras leaned over and planted a peck on Courfeyrac's cheek. "Sorry. That was mean." 

Courf waved his hand, as though to erase any wrongdoings. "It's cool, I get it. Granjolras is in a tough place right now, and that's alright. Give it time and you'll get back together."

Combeferre raised an eyebrow, amused. "You do know that they were never together, right?"

"Technicalities, technicalities," Courf mumbled around a mouthful of carrots. 

Jehan sat themself down beside Courfeyrac, playing with the scrunchie on the end of their braid. "Hello, what are you guys up to?" 

Courf automatically leaned into Jehan, resting his chin on their head comfortably. "You know, just the same old Granjolras gossip."

Enjolras groaned as Jehan's eyes lit up. "I still say Enjoltaire is better than Granjolras. It just sounds so romantic."

"I disagree. Granjolras has a better flow to it," Combeferre spoke up in a matter-of-fact voice. 

"Et tu, Ferre?" Enjolras asked his friend. "I personally think you guys should just let it go. Clearly, we are opposites in every sense of the word. And are you forgetting how much he resents me?"

Jehan claps their hands excitedly. "From hatred comes passion, and from passion comes attraction!"

"And don't forget sexual tension!" chimes in Courfeyrac. 

Ferre puts his hands up in a surrendering motion. "I'm not saying anything, but you have to admit they have a point." 

Enjolras sputters indignantly, "I most certainly do not have to admit anything!" 

Courfeyrac, Enjolras, and Combeferre continue chatting while Jehan checks their phone. Their face slowly blanches as they reads through their texts. 

"Um, Enjolras," they speak up meekly. "There's something you should probably know."

"Hm?" Enjolras hums noncommittally. 

Jehan twists their hands in their lap. "So, my friend Ép, just so happens to be Grantaire's best friend and... How do I say this? She kind of wants to have a... a chat with you."

"A chat?" Combeferre repeats. 

"Well, actually she said she wants to kick your ass but she's probably exaggerating," Jehan giggles nervously. 

"Enjy is gonna get his ass kicked!" Courf exclaims excitedly. 

"I'm going to get my ass kicked," Enjolras rests his head on the table. "And not even noon."

"Actually, it's 12:07," Combeferre states. Enjolras groans. "Sorry, Enj. Not helping, right?"

Jehan pats Enjolras's curls lightly. "Sorry, she's just really overprotective. Her and Grantaire have been best friends since they were in diapers, so she probably just wants to chew you out."

"And kick your ass! Don't forget about that part. She definitely wants to kick his ass," Courfeyrac grins. 

"I don't even know how to fight," Enjolras says miserably. "I got kicked out of karate classes in the third grade. I'm a pacifist, I don't do fighting!" 

"Uh, don't panic," Jehan begins. 

"What. What is it," Enjolras deadpans. 

"Éponine is heading over here right now, and she's not happy," Jehan waves at someone behind them. 

A dark skinned girl with waist length dreads stomps up behind Enjolras and crosses her arms defiantly. "Hey, asshole! Wanna turn around so that I can kick your sorry ass?"

"Erm..." Enjolras does not know how to handle this situation. "Hello?"

Thankfully, Grantaire chooses this moment to run up and act as a barrier between Ép and Enjolras. His back is to Enjolras as he quietly tells Éponine to drop it. Courf and Combeferre watch uncomfortably, never having been in this situation either. 

Grantaire turns back around with a grimace. "This has all just been a misunderstanding. It's... whatever. Sorry about Ép, we'll be leaving now."

Éponine sneaks under Grantaire's arm so that she's standing in front of Enjolras and suddenly she's crouched down so that she's very close to his face. "Don't think that this means we're done, Blondie. If I ever hear that you messed with Gr--"

Grantaire picks Éponine up and carries her over his shoulder. "Sorry about that. See you later, guys!"

They can hear Éponine swearing and trying to wriggle out of Grantaire's grip as he carries her out of the cafeteria. 

"Wow," says Jehan. "That was interesting."

Courfeyrac is pouting. "I wanted to see you get your ass kicked."

"Hypothetically speaking, I think Enjolras would maybe get one hit in before getting beat up," Combeferre theorizes. 

"Hmmm, I'm thinking it would be like one half-assed swat and then she would grab him by the hair and-" Courfeyrac proceeds to make karate-esque motions, complete with sound effects. 

"Thanks for the support, pals," Enjolras says sarcastically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, just finished all my exams and prom is next week so I've been really busy.   
> Anyways, chapter title is from Kathleen by Catfish and the Bottlemen.


	5. you were such a rollarcoaster

It's like Enjolras can't escape Éponine. The friend that Grantaire had said would be perfect for set design, turned out to be her. Therefore, she would be attending the majority of the play meetings that Courf had arranged during the lunch hour. 

"Can't we just ask someone else to do it?" Enjolras whined over the phone to Courfeyrac that afternoon. "What about Marius?"

"C'mon, Enj! She's really good, I saw her portfolio. And Marius's grandpa has a stick up his ass and won't let Marius commit to the play. He says that he needs to focus on schoolwork or something." 

Enjolras rolls his eyes. "Tell Marius I can tutor him in law or English or whatever other class he's failing."

Courfeyrac hesitated. "Not that you wouldn't be a great tutor, but... You can be kind of... harsh?"

The last time that Marius and Enjolras were paired together to work on a project, it ended with Enjolras flipping over a Starbucks table in frustration. Needless to say, Marius was now very hesitant to work with him again. 

Enjolras heard the beeping noise that meant someone was calling on the other line. "Gotta go, Courf, someone's on the other line. Try to convince Marius, bye!"

He hung up on Courfeyrac and answered the call from the other line. "Hello, this is Enjolras speaking. How can I help you?"

There is a chuckle on the other line. "You would answer the phone like that," someone laughed loudly. 

Enjolras held the phone away from his ear for a moment to check on the screen who it was. To his chagrin, it said "Sexy Future Sexy Husband". He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose before placing the phone back at his ear. "Grantaire, what do you want?" he asked wearily. 

"I just wanted to apologize. Like, for all of this stuff with Ép giving you shit and me being late," he confessed. 

"Oh!" Enjolras opened his mouth and then closed it and opened it again. "Um, yeah, that's... considerate of you. Does Éponine still want to beat me up?"

Grantaire choked out a short laugh. "No, just, uh, don't worry about it. I'm sorry for being an asshole. You don't deserve that."

Enjolras suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Thanks for the apology. And for guarenteeing that I won't be beat up."

"It's no big deal," Grantaire sighed. "I know that we probably just aren't meant to be friends, or whatever, so I'll stop bothering you and shit."

"Wait!" Enjolras's heart thudded against his chest as he struggled to form his thoughts into words. "We can be-- I mean, we should be on good terms. For the play. To make things seem more believable."

Grantaire doesn't respond. 

"Listen," Enjolras says almost frantically. "Come over to my house tonight and we can practice our lines. For the plays sake, we need to be able to do this."

There's a long pause where Enjolras is holding his breath, waiting. "Alright," replies Grantaire finally. "What's your address?"

"I'll text it to you," Enjolras says, relieved. "Meet me here in an hour."

Grantaire hangs up and Enjolras has a moment to contemplate what he's done before he's calling Jehan. 

"Hello?" Jehan answers. 

"Hey Jehan, how are you?" Enjolras asked quickly and continues before Jehan can answer. "You're friends with Grantaire, right?"

"Uh, yes, I am," Jehan confirms. "Is there a specific reason that you're asking this?"

Enjolras mouth starts spewing words before he can stop himself from speaking. "What's he like? I mean, what's his deal? Why does he act the way that he does?"

Jehan exhales deeply. "Well, I'm not really sure what you'd like me to say. He's a little confusing sometimes but, he's a really good guy. And as for his 'deal', you'll have to ask him yourself." 

"Okay. Okay!" Enjolras says with an air of finality. 

"Why are you asking?" Jehan wonders. 

"Well, he's coming over in a bit, so I was just curious," Enjolras explains casually. 

"Wait, wh--"

Enjolras hangs up his phone and flops on his bed. This was not a big deal. People hang out all the time, and this wasn't even a "Hang Out". This was just two actors running over their lines together. God, what was his mom going to say?

"Mo-om!" Enjolras calls out into his house. "I need to tell you something!"

As if on cue, his mother pops out from her bedroom, wearing a green face mask and hair dye foils. "What is it, honey?"

"Grantaire is coming over, and I thought I should tell you," Enjolras says lamely as he waits for her to make a big fuss. 

Not to be disappointed, his mother shrieks and claps her hands delightedly. "Okay, give me one second, I'm texting Courf!"

"Tell Courf to stop texting you! How does he even have your number?" Enjolras scowls. 

His mom shushes him as she writes out a text message. "This is just perfect, I knew that Granjolras would work out in the end."

"What? Oh no, absolutely not. Mother, there is nothing going on there. This boy can barely tolerate me, okay?" Enjolras is practically talking to himself at this point. "Why doesn't anybody else understand that?"

His mother cocks an eyebrow. "Do I have to have The Talk with you again?"

Against his will, Enjolras feels his cheeks heat up. "No, you do not. First of all, I am sixteen years old so I know how everything works. Second of all, the first Talk that you gave me was very ignorant and problematic. It's 2015, Mother! Girls can have dicks and boys can have va--"

"Yes, yes," his mother waves him off. "Since then, you've educated me on gender and sexuality stuff so I'm informed now. Seriously though, I'm just going to give you this condom. I don't care if you think you need it or not, I'm just going to give it to you."

Enjolras hastily grabs it and shoves it in his pocket. "Um, thank you. Anyways, can you just stay downstairs or something when he's over? And please don't talk to him?"

"Alright," she says. "Be safe and be good and Courfeyrac says to text him."

Enjolras chooses to ignore Courfeyrac and instead waits patiently on his bed, reading through his lines in his head and trying to get in the zone. 

Unfortunately, Enjolras is still struggling with his performance. He just can't get into character without feeling silly and stupid. He has no problem speaking to his friends or delivering speeches, but reciting lines for a role makes him feel uncomfortable. 

He watches a few YouTube videos on acting and overcoming stage fright to ease his nerves. Even whilst alone in his room, which is a fairly comfortable environment, he can't get rid of the butterflies in his stomach. He's staring up at the ceiling and wondering how to overcome his fear when he hears a light knock on his door. 

"Come in," he calls out, not moving from his position on the bed. 

Grantaire chuckles uncomfortably as he stands in the doorway with his hands stuffed in his jeans. "Hey, what are you doing there?"

"Hello. To answer your question, I'm thinking." 

Grantaire sits himself down on the edge of Enjolras's bed, leaving a significant amount of space between them both. "Your mom let me in, by the way. She's a real nice lady."

Enjolras sits upright. "What did she do? What did she say to you?" 

"Uh, you know, nothing too out of the ordinary. She did say that she's heard all about me, though," Grantaire looks at Enjolras intently. "It only makes sense that you tell your mom about Sexy Future Sexy Husband, after all."

"Courf told you about that?" Enjolras hides his red face in his pillow. "I swear it's not what it sounds like! I didn't do it, I would never!"

Enjolras doesn't notice Grantaire's fallen expression. "Actually, Jehan told me," Grantaire chuckles bitterly. "Don't worry Apollo, I know we would never be a real couple."

"What I really want to ask is how you get so comfortable with your character," Enjolras rolls over so that he can look at Grantaire. "I, um, can't really say my lines without sounding stupid."

"Really?" Grantaire peers at Enjolras from underneath his dark curls. "You seem so confident and in charge and intelligent."

Enjolras rolls his eyes and throws a pillow at Grantaire. "Stop messing with me! I need you to tell me how you do it. Please, just teach me."

There's a pause where Grantaire bits his lip nervously before Enjolras continues. "Don't make me beg, Grantaire."

Grantaire gulps and lips his lips, looking away from Enjolras as if he was staring at a bright light. "Yes. Yeah, I can show you how I practice my lines."

Grantaire and Enjolras spend the next couple of hours working through their lines. Grantaire had somehow already memorized all of his lines, and was basically ready. Enjolras shamed in comparison. He would stutter out half of his lines, blushing at each innuendo. 

They had worked through about half of the play consistently, before moving onto the next segment, which included a rather racy kiss. Enjolras wasn't all that nervous; he had kissed his friends before and although he couldn't really consider Grantaire to be his friend, he was close enough. 

So Enjolras shut his eyes and pouted his lips, as he stood on his tip toes and leaned in towards Grantaire. He could feel Grantaire's hot breath on his lips as they drew nearer and tilted his head slightly to the right. 

"Wait!" Grantaire drew back suddenly, frantically running his hands over his face and breathing heavily. 

"Uh, what's wrong? Is it my breath? I have mints here if you think I need them," Enjolras discreetly breathed into his hand to test the aroma of his breath. 

Grantaire paced around Enjolras room, avoiding eye contact as he wrung his hands together. "It's not you. It's me! I just need to get home. I forgot that I, erm, have a, uh.... curfew."

"A curfew?" Enjolras frowned. "It's like 8 o'clock."

Grantaire laughed nervously as he backed out of Enjolras's room. "Yeah, parents, you know?"

"Uh, okay? I'll see you tomorrow?" Enjolras called out as Grantaire made his way down the stairs and out the door. "Are you--"

The door slammed shut before Enjolras could finish his question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!! I decided to upload another chapter so quickly because today is my birthday, so consider it like my birthday present to you guys!  
> Chapter title from Rollarcoaster by Bleachers


	6. not a word, from your lips

Shopping trips had become somewhat of a tradition for Enjolras and Cosette. They had known eachother since they were kids, and asking the other to go on a shopping trip had become code for needing to talk about something. Plus, Cosette and Enjolras just happened to be almost the same size in clothes and had very similar tastes. That's why, on a Tuesday afternoon when he technically should've been doing homework, Enjolras found himself at the mall with his longtime friend. 

Cosette skimmed through the clearance rack at their favourite store, trying to find bargains. "So," she said without looking up. "Is there anything you want to talk to me about?"

She throws a loose black crop top at Enjolras that he just barely manages to dodge. "I'm... not sure yet," he admits. "I'm scared I messed something up and it's bothering me."

Cosette stops for a moment and rearranges her bangs, pausing to look intently at her friend. "Enj, does this have anything to do with Granjolras?"

Enjolras huffs and pouts his lip. "Did Jehan tell you?"

"Actually, Éponine did." Cosette bites back a grin at Enjolras's reaction. His eyebrows fly up almost comically and his mouth forms an O shape. 

"You're friends with Éponine? Since when?!" He sputters out, looking absolutely betrayed.

Cosette laughs loudly and drags him towards the change room. "Anyways, she told me that you two hung out yesterday. How was that?"

Enjolras numbly accepts the clothes she shoves at him and steps into the change room. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm pretty sure that he literally hates me and I don't know what I did to make him so mad."

He exits the room wearing high-rise acid wash jeans and a loose fitting black cropped t-shirt. Cosette purses her lips as she looks him over, cocking her head to the side before giving him a thumbs up sign. "You look so hot, Enj! Your waist is absolutely tiny and your legs look never ending."

Enjolras admires himself in the mirror for a minute before turning to Cosette. "So what do you think I should do about Grantaire? Should I confront him?"

"Oh God, no!" Cosette waves her arms around and alarms some of the shoppers around them. "Enjolras, listen to me. Your confrontations end with the other person crying approximately 60% of the time. Remember last year when--"

Right on schedule, Enjolras's cheeks and neck flushed an ugly, splotchy red. "Yes, okay, I get the point. We don't talk about that incident. I genuinely thought that he--"

"It's okay, I actually would prefer not to hear the explanation," Cosette shudders as she joins Enjolras in the change room with a handful of clothes. "So, what exactly happened that makes you think Grantaire hates you?"

"We were practicing our lines together in my room," (Cosette wiggles her eyebrows at this and Enjolras pinches her arm.) "And everything was going well, then before we were even done, he ran out the door with a weak excuse of having a curfew."

"Maybe he actually did have a curfew," offers Cosette. She holds up a jungle print skirt that Enjolras gives a thumbs down to. 

"At eight o'clock? Even your dad isn't that strict," Enjolras scoffs. 

"He's getting better with that kind of stuff. Next week, he's even letting me go out on a date! Can you believe it?" Cosette grins brightly and her eyes sparkle as though she was an actual Disney princess. 

"A date? With who?" Enjolras wonders outloud. 

"Actually, with two people," Cosette says, sneaking a peek at Enjolras to see how he reacts to the news. 

"Cool. And don't give me that look, you know that I support polyamory," Enjolras rolls his eyes at her. Had she really forgotten that last summer he had made it his personal mission to ensure that nobody harassed Joly, Bosseut, and Musichetta?

"One of the people is Éponine," Cosette mentions casually. "Just thought you should know."

Enjolras counts to ten in his head before replying. "I don't mind. It's your love life, and I can't stop you from dating violent, rude people."

Cosette punches him lightly. "Easy with the passive aggressive attitude! And don't you want to know who the other person is?"

"Sure," Enjolras shrugs. He holds up a green hooded tank top that Cosette gives up thumbs up to. 

"It's Marius Pontmercy! You know that really cute boy with the freckles? I think he's really good friends with Courf?"

Enjolras stifles a cross between a laugh and a sigh. "You're going on a date with Éponine and Marius? I'm not caffeinated enough to process this. Let's pay for our stuff then go to Second Cup."

Enjolras ends up purchasing a shirt, a pair of jeans, and a tank top, all of which he promises to share with Cosette. He continues telling her the story of how Grantaire had ran out of his house as they walk to Second Cup. 

"First of all, it was completely rude of him to just leave without even saying goodbye," Enjolras rants as they enter the coffee shop. "Second of all, how dare he be so impolite? There's this thing called manners, and I, for one, believe that--"

Cosette elbows Enjolras in the stomach and gives him A Look. Last time he had been given that look was when he had made a child cry at the zoo by giving a speech about zoo cruelty. 

"Hey Apollo," he heard a voice say weakly from behind him. Without even turning around, Enjolras knows who it is. 

"Hello Grantaire," he says as if he hadn't just been shit talking the other boy. "Since when do you work here?"

"It's been about a week."

There's an uncomfortable silence where Enjolras doesn't know if he should confront Grantaire and Cosette is ready to stop Enjolras from making a scene and Grantaire is just plain confused. 

"Hey," Grantaire's eyes light up in recognition as he spots Cosette. "You're going out with Ép and Marius this weekend, aren't you?"

She blushes lightly as she nods. "I'm Cosette, nice to meet you."

"I'm Grantaire."

"Yeah, I know," Cosette giggles as she glances at Enjolras. "Enjolras hasn't stopped talking about you."

Grantaire raises an eyebrow and leans over the counter so that he's just mere inches away from Enjolras. "Is this true, Enj?"

Suddenly, Enjolras's tongue feels too big for his mouth and he feels like he forgot how to breathe. "Yes," he lets out breathlessly. 

"And just what should we do about that?" Grantaire asks softly as he runs his fingers through Enjolras's hair softly, never breaking eye contact. 

"Uh," Enjolras feels like he's drowning. "I don't know?" 

Suddenly Grantaire leans back and adopts his regular voice again. "Yeah, me neither. So, are you guys ready to order?"

Later on, Enjolras blames this little incident on a minor allergic reaction and Cosette nearly pees herself from laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on Cosette/Éponine/Marius?  
> Chapter title from we don't have to take our clothes off by Ella eyre


	7. all we need is time

Enjolras couldn't concentrate on his homework. He had two assignments due that week, but all he could think about was how unsettling the situation with Grantaire was. It was impossible to know whether the other boy despised him or admired him. Enjolras bit on his pencil, frustrated at his inability to analyze Grantaire's character. 

He dialled Courfeyrac's number. Although Courf was usually a goofball, he could give good advice when it came to romantic matters. Was this considered a "romantic matter"? Enjolras wasn't sure. When Courfeyrac didn't answer the phone, Enj decided to pay him a visit. 

Courfeyrac's father greeted Enjolras at the door and gestured for him to let himself into Courf's room. Enjolras held his ground as his friend's father gave him a judgmental stare. It was no secret that Mr. Courfeyrac disapproved of Enjolras's feminine clothing and strong willed attitude. Enjolras could hear loud music blasting from inside Courf's room and rolled his eyes. Knowing Courfeyrac, he was probably having a solo dance party. 

Enjolras yanked open the door and blinked. Courfeyrac was not having a solo dance party. Actually, Courfeyrac was not even solo. He was laying on his back on the bed, with one very flushed Jehan grinding against his hips as they both released broken moans. 

"Oh," said Enjolras, still standing in the doorway. "Hello,"

Jehan yelped and jumped off of Courf as though he was made of fire. Their face turned a brilliant red as they avoided eye contact and hastily pulled on their large knit sweater. 

Courf, on the other hand, let out a dramatic sigh and struck a pose. "Enjolras, honestly! If you wanted to join us, you should've given me a warning."

Jehan looked between the two of them with raised eyebrows and Enjolras rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. "Courf, be serious. I need advice."

Courf exchanged a devious smirk with Jehan. "Let me guess, it concerns a certain Sexy Future Sexy Husband?"

"What do you want to know?" Jehan asked Enjolras as they bit back a grin. 

"Uh...." Now that Enjolras thought about it, he wasn't exactly sure what he had wanted to hear. "I don't know. This was stupid. I'm going to head home." 

"Wait!" Jehan grabbed Enjolras by the arm before he could leave. "This isn't stupid. Me and Courf are just teasing you because we're the stupid ones. If you want to stay and talk, we won't be dicks about it."

Enjolras let himself be guided to Courf's bed, where he was promptly given a blanket and a stuffed teddy bear. 

"Now, now," Courf said as he patted Enjolras's cheek twice. "What do you want to know about this crush of yours?"

Enjolras laughed incredulously. "This is not a crush, trust me. I don't get crushes."

"Oh sweetie," Jehan smiled sympathetically. "This is a crush."

"But-" Enjolras sputtered. 

Courfeyrac hid a grin behind his hand. "You can't talk to the guy without turning red or stuttering or biting your lip. What exactly did you think this was, Enj?"

"...Allergies?" 

Courf and Jehan look at one another for a second before they both burst into laughter. 

Courf wipes away a tear from his eye. "'Allergies'! You've been hanging around Joly too much."

Enjolras frowns. "I've never had a crush before. What should I do?"

"Well," Jehan explains. "When I first had a crush on Courf, I looked for things that we had in common that we could bond over. What do you and Grantaire have in common?"

Enjolras wracks his brain trying to think of anything. "Um.... I think I saw a communism pin on his backpack?"

Jehan raised their eyebrows skeptically. "Communism? Okay.... that's a start, I suppose."

Enjolras opened his mouth to object, but Courfeyrac cut him off before he could. "Jehan, you can't say anything bad about communism to Enj. He will literally yell at you for twenty minutes, just ask Marius."

Courf turned to Enjolras. "Lucky for you, it's obvious that Grantaire is really into you, so you probably won't have to make a huge effort to get his attention."

Enjolras leaned into his friends, resting his head on Courf's shoulders and his feet on Jehan's lap. He sighed heavily and seemed to deflate onto Courf. "The thing is," he began. "I'm almost sure he can't stand me. And it's pretty pathetic of me to be pining after him like some lovestruck teenager."

Courfeyrac patted his hair lovingly as Jehan began to give him the best foot massage of his life. "You'll never know for sure unless you ask him, Enj. You need to ask."

"What if he says no?" Enjolras stared at the ceiling. "What if he says no and tells everybody that I'm a fool with a- an- infatuation?"

"Oh, Enjolras," sighed Jehan as they moved on to massaging Enjolras's calves. "He would never do that. I promise you, he's not unkind."

The trio stayed sprawled out on the bed, with Enjolras leaning on both of his friends, in silence for a few minutes. The silence was broken by Jehan speaking up. 

"I'll do it for you, you know," they said finally.

"Do 'it'....?" Enjolras repeated. He mulled over the poet's words for a moment. "Oh! Oh, you mean sex? That's kind of you to offer, but no thank you."

Jehan allows themself to crack a smile. "No, I mean I can ask Grantaire out for you. He's a good friend of mine and I can see if he's interested in going out on a date with you."

Enjolras looks shocked at Jehan's offer and looks at Courfeyrac with his mouth open, as if to doublecheck that he heard right. 

"Yo, Enj, we never did have that whole romantic orientation talk thing and now seems as good of a time as ever," Courf said as though he was chatting about something as trivial as sports or the weather. "So, are you homoromantic, biromantic, aromantic..?"

"Well," began Enjolras carefully. "Before this I thought I was aromantic. But now, I don't know. I still identify with aromanticism but also homoromanticism? Is that a thing?"

Jehan rubbed their hands gently on Enjolras's thighs. "Of course, it's a thing. There's no rules to this stuff and whatever you're feeling is right."

Courfeyrac chimes in, "Everything is a thing!" And that sets off the trio into a fit of shaking laughter. 

When the laughter dies down, they understand the tenderness of what just occurred. Courf starts to braid Enjolras's hair gently as Jehan continues to run their hands up and down their friend's thighs. Enjolras shuts his eyes, feeling legitimate and grateful and valid and whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had such bad writers block mainly due to personal stress and anxiety so FINALLY here is an update. just a little Courf/Jehan/Enjolras friendship. title from dream machines by big deal


	8. been in pain like me?

"What do you mean, he said no?" Enjolras let himself stumble into an empty seat on the bus. He couldn't believe that the one time he actually likes someone, the one time that he-

Jehan looks like the picture of misery. They threw their hands up apologetically. "I honestly thought he liked you. I'm sorry, Enj." 

"It's not your fault," Enjolras leaned heavily against the window and stared out at the schoolyard. He could see Grantaire standing at the edge of the basketball court talking to Montparnasse. Enjolras felt like shit, and there was Grantaire laughing at something that that lowlife Montparnasse had to say. Laughing and smoking a joint. 

Enjolras grabbed his backpack and jogged to the front of the bus, ignoring Jehan calling after him and the bus driver warning him that they're about to leave. 

Enjolras felt taken over by some otherly force as his legs directed him to Grantaire. Montparnasse saw him first, making a face and muttering something that caused Grantaire to look up. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Enjolras hissed as he pointed towards the joint being passed back and forth. 

Grantaire took a deep inhale, looking upwards before replying, "what's it to you?"

Enjolras scoffed. "This is unbelievable; you know they can get you expelled for this! You'll be ditching Courf's play!"

Montparnasse chose this moment to toss the remaining stub on the ground and crush it out with his boot. The sound of his sharp metallic boot beating against the concrete cut through the conversation like a knife. "Listen, blondie," Montparnasse ground out as if it physically pained him to address Enjolras. "We all know what this is about. You're an overbearing dictator with a god complex, and R's your latest victim."

Enjolras frowned and opened his mouth, only to be cut off before he could get a word out. Montparnasse tsked his tongue as he started to file his nails with a switchblade. "You think it's funny to fuck with people like that? Sending that angel Jehan to do your dirty shit for you?"

Enjolras's mouth was dry and he had to force himself to swallow before he could say anything. "I... don't know what you mean."

Grantaire shot a quiet look of desperation to Montparnasse, who of course ignored it. "I mean, don't fuck with my shit. R is mine."

In the entirety of this conversation, Montparnasse was bringing himself closer and closer to Enjolras, and before they knew it, they were face to face. Enjolras kept his face neutral as Montparnasse's eyes rested on his lips for longer than a second. 

"And nobody, blondie, fucks with my shit." And with that, Montparnase let out a hoarse chuckle before stepping back and joining Grantaire. 

"Come on, R, I think blondie's had enough for one day!" 

Enjolras watched as Montparnasse looped an arm around Grantaire's waist and led him in the opposite direction. Enj had missed his bus and Grantaire didn't like him and Montparnasse managed to intimidate him and Grantaire didn't like him and he had to walk home and Grantaire didn't like him and Grantaire didn't like him and-

"Enj? What are you still doing here?" Combeferre softly placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did you miss the bus?"

Enjolras couldn't bring himself to look at his friend and he felt his lower lip starting to tremble. 

Combeferre knew Enjolras well enough to recognize that his meltdowns usually began with an inability to speak and shaking uncontrollably. He gently led his friend to a bench away from some of the other students who were hanging out or waiting to be picked up. 

Enjolras inhaled a deep shuddery breath as his fingernails yanked on the roots of his hair. "I know," he said wearily before Combeferre could tell him not to pull on his hair. 

Combeferre pulled out a stress ball from his backpack that Enjolras gratefully accepted. The blonde was still struggling to control his meltdown; strands of his hair were laced inbetween his fingers and his lower lip was almost spasming. 

Ferre knew that his friend didn't like to be seen during times like this. He turned on his playlist of classical music and pulled out a book of space facts to keep him distracted. 

A few minutes later, the stress ball was tossed into his lap. Enjolras gave him a shaky smile and nodded to confirm that he was okay. 

"Why do some people not consider Pluto to be a planet?" Combeferre pointed at a page in his book. "It's absolutely ridiculous! Pluto is most definitely a planet and it was considered so only until recently. Only 90s kids will remember the planet Pluto days."

His rant managed to coax another small smile out of Enjolras, who usually found his justice for Pluto antics to be hilarious. 

Combeferre's smile softened into something more serious. "Enj, it's been a while since I've seen you like... that. Did something happen?"

Enjolras took a moment to think of his words before speaking. "Grantaire really doesn't like me."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"He's Montparnasse's."

"Oh." Combeferre studied his friend's sullen expression and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. "Would listening to be talk about Pluto make it better?"

Enjolras let out a small chuckle and squeezed back Combeferre's hand. "Yes, please."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the latest update ever!  
> anyways, the chapter title is from gasoline by Halsey, comment and kudos if you liked this chapter!


	9. i don't care what they say about us anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: this chapter includes drug usage, so if you're not comfortable with that, there's a chapter summary in the end notes that you can skip to!

"Can we smoke a little more?" Grantaire's fingers itched to be gripping a joint and his lips craved that smoky bitter flavour of weed. 

Montparnasse tossed him a baggy of weed and rolling papers as he continued to rifle through his backpack looking for something. 

"A-ha! Here it is," Montparnasse grinned with satisfaction as he pulled out a plastic bag from his backpack. "Now this, this is what we need today."

Grantaire eyed the white powder with suspicion. He wasn't one for hard drugs. He preferred the gentle high of weed and the relaxation that it brought him. Montparnasse had already tried every drug under the sun and would often steal from his stepfather's stash. 

"Well?" Montparnasse crawled over to Grantaire and waved the bag in his face enticingly. "Wanna taste?"

"Do I..." Grantaire hesitated. "Have to snort it?"

Montparnasse's cold hand lifted one of Grantaire's fingers to his open mouth and thoroughly coated it in warm saliva. Grantaire gulped as his friend's lips continued to suck on his finger. Montparnasse smiled devilishly and guided Grantaire's finger into the cocaine. 

"Now rub it into your gums," he instructed. 

Grantaire's movement felt slow and lagging from the weed as he rubbed the powder into his gums. Montparnasse took some on his own fingertips and snorted sharply through his nose. 

He exhaled deeply and smirked at Grantaire before snorting some more. "I like it better like that. It hurts more."

Grantaire patted his lap twice and that was all the encouragement that Montparnasse needed to climb into his lap. Grantaire studied Montparnasse as he continued to take more cocaine. 

Montparnasse threw away the empty bag and settled himself comfortably in his friend's lap. "He's all wrong for you, you know."

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb, R; you know who." 

Grantaire started to wheeze out laughter and Montparnasse joined in. When Grantaire finally caught his breath, he rested his forehead against his friend's. The heat between their heads felt feverishly hot, and Grantaire wanted to take off his jacket but felt unable to. "Why did you tell him I'm yours?"

Montparnasse removed his forehead from Grantaire's and squinted into Grantaire's eyes, as if he was trying to see something on the other side or maybe something inside his brain. Grantaire laughed at that idea. Silence reigned for a few moments. "You could be mine if you wanted to. I take very good care of what's mine. Look at how clean these shoes are!"

For some reason, this seems hilarious to Grantaire and he laughs for a few minutes. "I can't be yours. I don't feel that way about you," he shakes his head after a second. "I don't feel romantically for anybody, that's the problem."

"It was just a thought," Montparnasse shrugs. "I'm going to go after Jehan anyways. They're absolutely breathtaking."

"And they're absolutely dating Courf!"

Montparnasse rolls his eyes at his friend. "It's the twenty first century, people can date more than one person. God, it's called being polysexual, look it up."

Grantaire grins. "Look yourself up."

This isn't funny, but Montparnasse laughs anyways. "I think it's starting to kick in."

"I think it started to kick in ten minutes ago," Grantaire stares up transfixed on the ceiling fan with a smile on his face. 

"Don't get me distracted," Montparnasse sits up straight. "You don't feel romantically for blondie, but you still want to bone him, right?"

"Well, yeah," Grantaire admits. "I can't let myself get close to him though; he wants and deserves an actual relationship."

"Whatever, he's no good for you anyways. People like him don't get what we're about," Montparnasse's lip curls up in disgust. "He doesn't even know me and he looks down on me from his fucking high horse."

Grantaire hums in agreement, remembering the look that Enjolras had given them back at school when they were smoking. 

Montparnasse and Grantaire drop the subject, favouring to obnoxiously sing along to whatever One Direction song is playing on Montparnasse's phone instead. 

"One more thing," Montparnasse says as he lights up another joint. "I think I'm going to start using all pronouns. Just he/him seems so... ordinary."

"Okay," Grantaire replies. "Wanna see me blow smoke rings?" 

"Oh, no way that you can blow better smoke rings than me," Montparnasse inhales deeply and then carefully forces out three identical smoke rings. "Beat that!"

"Watch this! Here, come really close and I'll show you how I make perfect smoke rings," Grantaire beckons for Montparnasse to observe him. Grantaire takes a big hit and keeps the smoke in his mouth for a second before leaning towards Montparnasse and blowing a huge cloud of smoke in cir face. 

Unable to hold in his laughter, Grantaire loses it when Montparnasse starts coughing and waving the smoke out of their face, while flipping their friend off with cir other hand. 

"That's it, asshole, get out of my house," Montparnasse laughs as xe shoves Grantaire's shoulder. 

"Or what?" Grantaire wiggles his brows dangerously, still feeling overly confident from his high. 

Montparnasse smirks and since when has xe been straddling Grantaire? Because suddenly his body is pressing down on Grantaire's and it feels like there's no space between either of them. Montparnasse pushed their lips against Grantaire's in a painful, rough kiss. When they pull apart, Grantaire feels like his lips are bruised and his tongue is bleeding from where Montparnasse bit it. 

Montparnasse slides off her friend's lap and picks up their cellphone. "Do you want to order pizza or Chinese food? Or should we just make ramen?"

"I'm in the mood for ramen," Grantaire smiles at Montparnasse. "But we have to add hot sauce to it!"

Montparnasse delivers a faux karate chop to Grantaire's arm. "You and your fucking hot sauce addiction."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter summary: Grantaire and Montparnasse are smoking weed and doing coke at Montparnasse's house. Grantaire reveals he rejected Enjolras because he's aromantic and thinks Enjolras "deserves better". Montparnasse decides to use all pronouns. Montparnasse and Grantaire make out for a bit. 
> 
> I either update after 2 months or after one day! Sorry for the inconsistency in updates but I just felt in a writing mood today and I love Montparnasse/Grantaire friendship. Title from buddy holly by weezer, comment/kudos if you liked this chapter.


	10. won't get oh so critical

To say that the next play recital was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Although not everybody knew the specifics of exactly what had transpired between Grantaire and Enjolras, it was impossible to not catch on to the awkward tension. 

Bosseut, one of the extras in the play, had walked into the recital ten minutes late and promptly exclaimed, "Is it just me, or is there some bad vibes up in here?" His boyfriend Joly shot an apologetic look at Enjolras before whispering something in Bosseut's ear that made him let out a quiet, "Oh". 

Enjolras was facing the problem head-on. That is to say, he was acting as though it had never happened. To the members of the cast and crew that weren't particularly close to him, he appeared to be simply reciting all his lines by the book. Only Courfeyrac and Combeferre could see how every line he uttered in Grantaire's direction made his hands shake slightly. 

Grantaire, on the other hand, was not ignoring their situation. His discomfort was obvious; he would recite each line towards the floor rather than towards his costar and every half hour he would leave for a smoke break. It didn't help that Montparnasse was glaring at Enjolras the entire time and spitting out his lines ferociously. 

Courf did his best to keep the cast under control, but even with eight cups of coffee in his system, he could feel himself getting frustrated with the lack of progress. 

The final straw was when they took a break and Montparnasse approached Jehan with a devious look on xer face. 

"Hey Parnasse," Jehan smiled. "You were reading your lines really well today. I was practically inspired!"

Montparnasse casually slung an arm around Jehan's thin frame, drawing them closer. "Thanks, babe. You're rather... inspiring, yourself."

Courfeyrac's grip on his thermos tightened as he watched the interaction take place with a clenched jaw. He knew that Jehan was polysexual and polyromantic. They had talked about it before they started dating, just to ensure that they were on the same page and there would be no confusion or feelings of betrayal. Courfeyrac had agreed with everything. However, to see it playing out in front of him with his own eyes was nothing like how he imagined it. He felt left out and helpless. He could feel that familiar prickling feeling behind his eyes as he watched Jehan throw their head back laughing at something Montparnasse had said and then shyly planting a peck on his cheek. Courf had to leave before he did something embarrassing, like start crying in front of everybody for no valid reason. 

Someone lightly touched his arm. "Courf?" It was Combeferre. "You alright?"

Courf turned away, hiding his face from his friend. "I'm fine. I just need some air. Give me two seconds." He fled towards the exit sign before Combeferre could stop him. 

The cold crisp air of outside made him feel like he could breathe again. He sat down on a bench, trying to pull it together and piece together his thoughts. 

"Hey," a voice said from behind him. "You all good?" Grantaire sat down beside him, shivering as he smoked his fifth cigarette in past couple of hours. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm great," Courf croaked out as he watched his friend exhale a cloud a smoke. 

Grantaire eyed his statement with skepticism but didn't push the issue, choosing instead to take another drag from his cigarette. 

"Hey, can I have a puff of that?" Courfeyrac gestured towards the cigarette. 

Grantaire passed it to him with raised eyebrows. "I didn't think that you're the type to smoke."

Courf take a long drag and shut his eyes as he exhaled. "Yeah, don't tell Ferre or Enj."

Grantaire chuckled bitterly and Courfeyrac opened his eyes to shoot him a confused look. 

"I'm not going to be telling Enjolras anything. He hates me, remember?" 

"He doesn't hate you. He's just hurt. He doesn't..." Courf struggled to explain Enjolras's character. "He doesn't put himself out there. He hardly admits his feelings, even to his best friends. For him to have told you that he's interested, that's huge for him. And it really hurt his feelings that you treated him like a joke and didn't return his feelings."

"He--" Grantaire croaked. "He told you that?"

Courf took another drag and was silent for a moment. "He didn't say that word for word, but I know."

The two sat in silence, watching streams of smoke unfurl from their mouths and disappear into the afternoon sky, passing back and forth Grantaire's cheap cigarettes. 

"Jehan likes Montparnasse," Courf said suddenly. "That's why I'm here. I can't watch it."

"Parnasse told me they want Jehan," Grantaire offered. 

"Jehan's polysexual, but it's just hard for me to see that. Does that make me a bad person?"

"I don't know. I think you need to talk to Jehan."

Courfeyrac stomped on the last cigarette butt and stood up, offering a hand to Grantaire. "Only if you talk to Enjolras. Come on, let's go back inside; it's cold as fuck out here." 

The two boys entered the auditorium again, feeling somewhat more at peace with themselves after their chat. 

"Courf!" Jehan ran up to their boyfriend with a bright smile on their face. "Can I talk to you about something?"

Courfeyrac braced himself as he forced a smile. "Yeah, of course. What's up?"

Courfeyrac let Jehan lead him towards Montparnasse, who shot the other boy a devilish grin. "Courf, how do you feel about us dating Parnasse?"

Courf felt his mouth fall open as he looked as his datefriend in astonishment, unable to form words. Jehan held back a smile at their boyfriend's reaction, but Montparnasse didn't even attempt to hold in his snort. 

"Um, I..." Courfeyrac was speechless. 

"Is that a yes?"

"I thought that... only you would date him and I would be left out of it. Is this allowed? Are we all three going to date eachother?"

Montparnasse raised one perfectly groomed brow. "That's the general idea, yes. You in, hot stuff?"

Jehan looked between the two with an excited expression. They really liked Courf and they really liked Parnasse. If Courf would agree to the arrangement, it would be the best of both worlds. 

"I'm in!" Courfeyrac punched a fist in the air. "Polyamory for the win!"

Jehan clapped excitedly. "Oh, this is great! I was so worried, Courf, I didn't know if you would be comfortable dating two people."

Montparnasse slipped on cir silver aviator sunglasses and wrapped an arm around both of the people ce was dating. "Well? Let's get back to the recital. Time for me to show off my new babes."

And that's how the cast and crew's short break was interrupted by Courfeyrac chanting, "PO-LY-AMORY! PO-LY-AMORY!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts on Courfeyrac/Montparnasse/Jehan?  
> or on how Grantaire and Enjolras are handling their shit?   
> chapter title from closer by tegan and sara


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